Although this ancient
cult was worshipped in large parts of the world since time
immemorial, there appears to have been a renewed westward thrust of
this faith, soon after the conquests of Alexander, which invigorated
the ancient land and maritime trade routes, popularly known as the
Silk Route, which connected India and China with the western
world.

Fig 10: The
ancient Silk Route. [Source: chinatouristmaps.com]

In 329 BC, Alexander
established the city of Alexandria in Egypt, which became a major
staging point in the Silk Route. In 323 BC, Alexander’s
successors, the Ptolemaic
dynasty, took control of Egypt. They actively promoted trade with Mesopotamia, India, and East
Africa through their Red
Sea ports and over land. This was assisted by a number of
intermediaries, especially the Nabataeans and other Arabs.
Soon after the Roman conquest of Egypt in
30 BC, regular communications and trade between India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, China, the Middle
East, Africa and Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale.

The
Silk Route transformed into a highway for the cultural, commercial,
technological, philosophical and religious exchanges between far
flung kingdoms. Buddhism spread from the northern part of India into
the farthest reaches of China. The Eastern Han emperor Mingdi is
supposed to have sent a representative to India to discover more
about this strange faith, and further missions returned bearing
scriptures, and bringing with them Indian priests. Together with
coveted merchandise, rock-cutting skills travelled eastwards
along the Silk Road from India to China. Hundreds of rock-cut caves
with statues of Buddha were built between 450 and 525 CE. Among the
most famous ones are the Longmen Grottoes in China’s
Henan province, a UNESCO World Heritage Site today. The Longmen
grotto complex contains 2345 caves and niches, 2800 inscriptions, 43
pagodas and over 100,000 Buddhist images collected over various
Chinese dynasties. The Yungang Grottoes near Datong in the
province of Shanxi consists of 252 grottoes and more than 51,000
Buddha statues and statuettes, mainly constructed in the period
between 460-525 CE. Also on the Silk Road are the Mogao Caves
in China’s Gansu province. They are best known for their
stunning and well-preserved Buddhist art that spans a period of 1,000
years from 366 CE onwards.